UK Travel Tips The cheapest train fares are those designated "Advance" - how far in advance depends upon the journey as most rail companies offer advance fares on a first come first served basis. Advance tickets are usually sold as one-way or "single" tickets. Whether or not you buy advance tickets, always compare the "single" ticket price to the round trip or "return" price as it is often cheaper to buy two single tickets rather than one round trip ticket.

Because train times are tied to demand and rush hours vary from place to place, it can be confusing to try to match up cheap tickets with rail times and travel dates. Simplify your life and let the National Rail Enquiries computer do it for you. Use their Cheapest Fare Finder search tool. If you can be flexible about times and dates that's even better. Tick the boxes marked "All Day" in the extreme right of the tool to get the absolute bottom dollar available fare.

By Bus

National Express runs direct coaches from London Victoria Coach Station to Derby every two hours between 8:30am and 11:30pm. The trip takes between 3h30 and 3h50. There is also one express service that takes 3h10 once a day.

Bus tickets can be purchased online. There is usually a 50pence booking fee.

UK Travel Tip National Express offers a limited number of "funfare" promotional tickets that are very cheap (£6.50 for a £39.00 fare, for example). These can only be purchased on line and they are usually posted on the website a month to a few weeks before the trip. It is worth checking the website to see if "funfare" tickets are available for your chosen journey. Use the National Express Online Fare Finder to find the cheapest tickets. And, as always, a bit of flexibility about dates and time can save you money.

By Car

Derby is 131 miles north of London via the M1 motorway. It takes about 2h30 to drive in ideal conditions but you should be aware that the M1 is almost always clogged with huge articulated lorries (semis to North Americans) that travel at intimidating speeds if you are not used to driving in the UK. Keep in mind too that gasoline, called petrol in the UK, is sold by the liter (a little more than a quart) and the price is usually more than $1.50 a quart.